Arnold Engineering Development Complex has established a consortium of pre-qualified industry partners intended to accelerate the sustainment, restoration and modernization of the aerospace ground test infrastructure that supports next-generation defense systems.
The AEDC Velocity Alliance has been set up by Arnold Engineering Development Complex (AEDC) at Arnold Air Force Base, Tennessee, in partnership with the Air Force Test Center. The alliance is an enterprise-level acquisition vehicle covering what AEDC describes as a multibillion-dollar portfolio of infrastructure projects.
It operates primarily under other transaction authorities provided by sections 4022 and 2808a of Title 10 of the US Code. AEDC said the authorities allow it to build a pre-qualified, competitive ecosystem of industry partners more quickly than traditional acquisition routes permit.
Greg Jones, agreements officer for the AEDC Velocity Alliance Consortium, said, “By leveraging the unique authorities of 10 U.S.C. § 4022 and § 2808a, the AEDC Velocity Alliance successfully bypasses the massive bureaucratic red tape of traditional acquisition processes to modernize our premier ground test infrastructure at the speed of commercial enterprise.”
Prospective members must meet technical, cybersecurity and other requirements before joining the consortium. The approach is designed to place qualified organizations in position ahead of demand, rather than beginning the search for partners once an infrastructure requirement has become urgent.
Work is expected to span AEDC and its geographically separated units, with potential projects covering construction, process systems, electrical engineering, fire suppression, equipment repair and other specialized engineering and construction services, according to GovconWire. The consortium is open to traditional and non-traditional defense contractors, small businesses, nonprofit organizations and research institutions.
AEDC provides the ground test environments used to validate advanced aerospace technologies before they enter service, including hypersonic platforms and advanced sensors. The complex said infrastructure modernization is needed to support systems contributing to the Long-Range Kill Chain.
As those systems become faster and more complex, the test capabilities behind them must keep pace, according to AEDC. The alliance is intended to reduce acquisition timelines and allow modernization work to move forward more efficiently.
Jones said, “As Agreements Officers, we have intentionally designed this consortium-based acquisition framework to ensure we operate with the highest level of procurement integrity, transparency, and at a level of acquisition speed AEDC has never witnessed before. Ultimately, this allows us to rapidly field a pre-qualified, competitive industrial ecosystem that is fully prepared to deliver next-generation capabilities to the warfighter.”
AEDC described the alliance as a shared commitment between government and industry to keep the country’s test infrastructure aligned with the technologies it is used to evaluate.
